http://eiti.org/news/guatemala-recognised-eiti-compliant

Guatemala recognised as ‘EITI Compliant’
Wednesday, 19 March 2014 – 7:53pm
Compliant country
Vice President reaffirms its commitment to transparency.

Guatemala was found to be EITI Compliant by the international EITI Board on 19 March 2014. The EITI Board, chaired by Clare Short, congratulated the Government of Guatemala for its sustained commitment and leadership in the implementation of the EITI.

EITI compliance means that the country regularly discloses the government’s revenues from natural resources. Maintaining compliance will require that the country meets all requirements in the EITI Standard that was adopted in 2013, which will require the country to met additional disclosure requirements.

Roxana Baldetti, Vice President of Guatemala, said:

“The Government of Guatemala expresses its satisfaction with the decision of the EITI Board and reaffirms its commitment to transparency as an essential element of the management of natural resources that belong to all Guatemalans.”

In July last year, Guatemala published its first EITI Report which was heralded as an important tool to curb the distrust that had halted the development of additional mining projects. Its next EITI Report, covering financial year 2012, is to be published by 31 December 2014.

Commenting on the announcement, Mario Marroquin, Executive Director at Goldcorp Guatemala, said:

“This decision strengthens the EITI Standard as the reporting rule for the industry’s payments in Guatemala. We are confident that this will help to establish transparency as the rule of the game in the natural resources sector.”

Alfredo Cupil, member of the Guatamala EITI’s multi-stakeholder group, said:

“The designation as Compliant country marks a first phase in Guatemala that should be a spur to make transparency the norm for the management of revenues from natural resources allowing social actors, and in particular, indigenous communities, monitoring the use and impact of those resources”.

“The World Bank congratulates Guatemala on their designation as an EITI compliant country after many years of work facilitated by a Multi-Donor Trust Fund grant to bring their transparency practices up to international standards,” said Oscar Avalle, Country Manager, Guatemala office of the World Bank.

The Board’s decision in full:

The EITI Board designates Guatemala as Compliant. In accordance with the EITI Standard:

* Guatemala must be revalidated within 3 years, i.e. Validation will
commence on or earlier upon
request of the EITI Follow-up Committee. Validation will be
conducted in accordance with the EITI Standard.
* Stakeholders in the process may call for a new Validation at any
time within that period if they think the process needs reviewing.
Where valid concerns exist that a country has become EITI Compliant,
but its implementation of the EITI has subsequently fallen below the
standard required for Compliance, the Board reserves the right to
require the country to undergo a new Validation or face delisting
from the EITI.
* In accordance with the transitional arrangements approved by the
Board to the EITI Standard, Guatemala is expected to publish the
2012 EITI Report by 31 December 2014.
* In accordance with Requirement 7.2, Guatemala is required to publish
an annual report on the previous year’s activities, detailing
progress in implementing the EITI. The annual report for 2013 should
be published by 1 July 2014.

In all decisions on Validation, the Board places a priority on the need for comparable treatment between countries and the need to protect the integrity of the EITI brand.

The Board congratulates the Government of Guatemala for its sustained commitment and leadership in the implementation of the EITI process. The Board also congratulates Guatemala’s EITI National Commission, its Technical Secretariat at the Ministry of Energy and all stakeholders involved for their efforts and effective leadership in EITI implementation.

* In advance of the 2012 Report the Board recommends that:
* the MSG’s terms of reference includes the responsibility of
approving the EITI-GUA’s work plan;
* the MSG adopts a clearer definition of materiality for payments and
revenues to be disclosed.
* the MSG continues its efforts to ensure a credible EITI reporting
process so that the EITI Report contains reliable data based on
accounts audited to international standards.

The Board tasks the EITI International Secretariat with monitoring the effective functioning of the MSG and to provide regular updates to the Board on progress with implementing the Board’s recommendations.

For further information about EITI in Guatemala, visit the country page on the EITI website.

EITI Multi-Donor Trust Fund facilitates grants to Guatamala and other developing countries implementing EITI. EITI MDTF is administered by the World Bank and supported by 15 donor countries.